London Borough of Bromley (24 006 061)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 Jul 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consideration of Mr X’s representations against a penalty charge notice as Mr X appealed the notice to London Tribunals. This matter is therefore no longer within our remit.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council did not properly respond to his representations against a penalty charge notice (PCN) it issued to him. As a result, Mr X said he had to appeal to London Tribunals. Mr X wants the Council to consider his case and to provide information he has requested from it about a change to signs at the location in question.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection/access to information. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Parliament has provided an appeal mechanism, in this case to the independent adjudicators at London Tribunals, for motorists to challenge PCNs. When such an appeal has been made, the law says we cannot investigate.
- The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent regulator in respect of access to information and is best placed to deal with the concerns Mr X raises about the Council’s response to his request for information.
- For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because he appealed the PCN to London Tribunals. His complaint about information access is best dealt with by the ICO.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman